Coraline II Revenge or Peace
by LoneLadyWolf
Summary: My own sequal to Coraline. Lily and her family are my own charcters, please enjoy! THIS STROY IS GOING TO BE CONTINUED SOON AS OF APRIL 2014.
1. Chapter 1

**(This is my own sequal to the movie Coraline. Hope you like it!)**

**Coraline II: Revenge or Peace? **

Lily Walker sat down on the steps of Ashland Junior High. Her first day at her new school had gone well. Except now that her bus had broken down and she and all the other kids who lived in town were all stranded at the school for another hour or so. All the other kids were crowded over by the three big redwoods that lay in front of the school. They were talking, laughing, playing, and of course, not even realizing that she was there. Lily didn't know anybody yet so she stayed on the steps by herself.

It was a cold February afternoon, around 48 degrees or so. The only true leaves that could be seen were brown and stepped on around the ground. She puffed out a deep breath that came out as white fog to be amusing until something dawned on her, her parents didn't know she was going to be late getting home. _I've got to call them, _she thought to herself, _as if they'd notice I wasn't there._

She shivered a little as she took off her jacked for a second to look for her cell phone somewhere in her pockets. Lily's coat was a hand-me-down from her older brother, Zack, in high school so it was very big. She'd been dying to get one for awhile but her parents told her that this one would have to do to get her through the winter.

Lily was so focused on finding her phone that almost didn't notice when someone walked up to her. She looked up to see a boy standing in front of her. He had black hair and blazing brown eyes.

"Hey, what's your name?" The boy asked. "My name's Alan Scotts."

Lily looked up and smiled. "I'm Lily Walker."

Alan smiled back and sat down beside Lily on the steps of the school. "So where'd you come from? Let me try to guess, Minnesota? No, you can't from there. You aren't pale enough. Are you from…Arkansas? "

"No!" Lily said laughing. "I'll give you hint, it's West from Ohio, East from Nebraska, and North from Mississippi."'

"Oh, I know this! Uh… is it…Tennessee?" He guessed again.

"No, it's close, kind of, but not right. I'm from Illinois." She told him.

"Oh yeah, I've been there before to visit my older brother in collage." Alan scooted down a closer to her. His hand was only about four inches from Lily's. "It's pretty nice up there, huh?"

"Yeah, it's nice." Lily scooted a little down herself to give a little more space between them. "So is the bus always late or maybe it's just today."

"Well the three buses this school's got are always breaking down. The stupid things can't go a month without one screwing up." He said zipping up his own jacket. "So where are you and your folks gonna be living?"

"We're going to be living at an apartment complex called The Pink Palace." She told him finally pulling out her phone. "But we're staying at the hotel tonight because the electricity won't be ready till tomorrow."

"Oh…you're living _there_?" Alan asked sitting up with an edge of surprise in his voice.

"Yes," She answered slowly. Why was he surprised she was going to be living there? "Is there a problem with that place?"

He scratched his head. "Well, no. But there's been some strange stuff going on in the place over the last year."

"Like what?"

"Well for one the woman who owns the place would never let people with kids move in until last year." He told her. "The place needed to be filled to not be closed down so she had to let a family with a kid move in."

"So? What's so strange about that?" Lily was a little confused of why the owner had not let people with kids move in previously. "She let my family movie in without any questions about kids at all and my parents have six."

Alan's eyes widened. "Six? Your parents have _six _kids?"

"Yes," Lily said looking at him with a little bit of affiance. Was it really all that weird to come from a family that big? "There's my older sisters Claudia and Claire who are both in collage, they're twins. Then there's my big brother Zack who's in high school, 10th grade. Then there was me and after me came my little brother Vincent who's in 4th grade and my little sister Sue who's in 1st."

"Wow," Alan said with his mouth hanging open. "You're got the biggest family I've ever heard of!"

"Thank you," Lily laughed with a smile. "So is there anything else weird about my new home that I should know about?"

"Well, there's-"

"You shut your mouth!" An unknown voice suddenly thundered from across the front school yard. "You stay quiet, you give Wybie back _my_ mittens, and you can go eat mud!"

"Coraline Jones!" A teacher shouted. "You behave yourself if you don't want me calling your mother _again_! David, give the mittens back!"

"What was that?" Lily asked Alan after everything was over.

"That," He answered with a little chuckle. "Was what I was about to tell you about. Coraline Jones moved in last year right before winter break was over. She was the kid in the family that moved into the Pink Palace." He laughed again. "I guess you two are gonna be neighbors."

Lily looked out toward the mountains. "Yeah, I guess we are."

* * *

><p>"Hey, uh… sorry you had to yell at David again today." Wybie apologized after he and Coraline got off the bus. "I'm not very good at dealing with him."<p>

"It's okay." Coraline told him walking to the beginning of the driveway up to the house. "As long as you don't cry or something stupid like that I'm happy to do it."

"Okay, Bye Jonesy!" Wybie called over his shoulder as he continued down the road.

Coraline walked up the driveway scuffing away dead leaves in her path. She was tired after a long day of school, especially with a math test on multi-step equations and having to yell at David all in one day.

_But he needed to be yelled at. _She told herself mentally as she climbed up the steps. _So that teacher can call mom, I don't care. _ As Coraline neared the front door, she felt warm fur brush against her legs.

"Oh, hello there," She greeted as The Pink Palace's favorite feline resident hopped onto the rail of the porch.

He gave a soft 'meow' as to say, "Hello."

Coraline opened the door and Cat hopped down to follow her in. She dropped her backpack beside the kitchen table and walked through the hallway that led to the living room. The whole house seemed a lot less dreary then it had been in when the Jones had first moved in.

The walls now had pictures from garden parties and woods-exploration trips (only between Wybie, Coraline, and Cat). All the tables had pictures and flower arrangements with a neat little doily from Ms. Spink and Ms. Forcible downstairs. It felt like home rather than a boring prison like Coraline had first thought it was when she first moved in.

But then again she'd learned that even if her life wasn't always exciting, at least she wasn't fighting for her life with a button-eyed witch. Coraline shivered a little as she thought about _Her. _She looked over at the little door for a second then sat down on the couch.

"Do you ever wonder what she might be doing in there?" She asked Cat. "I mean, she has to be doing something. She hasn't been at the door lately. Last time she did it was about a month ago." Coraline remember the first week after the little door had been shut for the last time, every night she could hear _Her_ screaming things like, "I will _not_ let you go this easy! I will get you for this Coraline! You _will_ accept that you are my child, if it's the last thing I ever do!"

Cat gave a little nod of his head to say, "Yes, I agree."

"She might be plotting against me or maybe she died of starvation because she didn't have any child's soul to eat, what do you think?"

He gave a deep growl and then a soft purr to say, "I personally hope she's dead. Don't you?"

"Yes," Coraline said with a laugh. "But it's still sort of a mystery, ya know?"

Cat mewed to say, "I guess you're right.


	2. Chapter 2

All was dark. All was quiet. This place, once a wonderland, was now just a bland house full of black loneliness.

A tall, thin, spider-like thing's shadow fell across the wall as it paced up and down the empty house. The ground was scattered with buttons and thread, everything that this place had been built on. The house had fallen into ruin since Coraline left, and so had its creator.

The Other Mother stopped beside her last memory of her 'daughter', a portrait that she created with memories of this girl who she longed to be her own. She sighed with pain and loneliness as she stared at the last bit of her 'little girl' she had left.

"What did I ever do?" The Other Mother said to herself as her needle fingers of her remaining hand stroked the picture gently. "All I wanted was a child, was too much to ask from you, sweetheart?"

She turned away from the painting and walked through the house again. Then she went to her workshop upstairs and looked at the little present box that had been met for her 'daughter' with the greatest present she could give.

Just as she was falling into her memories again, she felt something. A strange tingle feeling from her wrist, It was her hand, moving.

All the pieces had found each other in the well and were moving, struggling to find the key in damp dark. The Other Mother sighed, her hand had tried so many times to find the key, it was hopeless of course but, she felt something her hand was then holding on to. It was small, very light, long had grooves in it and a circle-shaped part at the top; the key.

Her hand had found the key, all hope had been restored! The Other Mother shrieked in happiness, she would have her 'daughter' now!

"My sweet," The Other Mother whispered to her wrist. "Bring it back here to me, we have much to do!" She then felt her hand start climbing the cold stone walls of the well.

She wasted no time, all her needles, threads, and fillings were out once more. She started to weave and rebuild the house, very slowly with only one hand to work with. But as soon as her hand got back then things would pick up!

She would do the outside a little differently than before, this time she planned to make the outside bigger. So if she and Coraline played another 'game' it would be more challenging than last time.

"Don't worry my little darling," The Beldam witch sang with a smile as she worked. "Mommy's coming to get you!"

* * *

><p>Lily sat quietly in the front seat of her mom's red mini-van as they drove up to the store. Her mother and her brother Vincent had been talking the whole time and had barely noticed her. The same as most of the time when there were multiple people in the car.<p>

"Now, let's see…" Her mother said as they went to the floral section. "We should get something nice but not too fancy for this dinner."

"What, Dinner? What do you mean?" Vincent asked.

"I told you dear," His mother answered. "We're going over to the Jones's house for dinner tonight; they are our new neighbors at The Pink Palace."

Lily's stomach lurched; she'd be getting to know Coraline sooner than she anticipated.

"Lily you should have fun," Her mother chattered on as she looked through the flower arrangements. "They have a daughter named Caroline that's just your age. You two should be able to relate and all that…"

"Uh mom, I think its _Coraline_, not Caroline, _Coraline._" She corrected her mother softly. "I've seen her at my school already."

"Hmmm…Coraline, that's a very unusually name." Her mother muttered as she picked up a bunch of blue and white flowers. "Ahh, this one I think will be perfect. We'll get this one."

"Do I have to wear a dress?" Lily asked. She had a hatred of wearing dresses.

"Yes, Lily. We have to look our best for this to make a good impression." Her mother said as she walked over to the bakery. "You can wear that yellow one you have, yellow's your favorite color after all."

_If only my favorite color was yellow mom, _Lily thought as her mother picked up a lemon pound cake to bring along with the flowers. _Then again I wonder if there was ever a time you knew what my favorite color was._

Her mother, after twelve years, still couldn't figure out that her favorite color was red. She tended to switch the color that she implied was Lily's favorite. First it was green, then blue, then orange, and now yellow. She had no problem remembering her sibling's favorites. She could remember black for Zack, white for Claire, silver for Diane, blue for Vincent, and pink for little Sue. But then it was all blank for Lily.

She sometimes wondered if she should have had a different mother, her own didn't understand her very well and her father barley noticed her half the time.

_But she's the only mom I'm ever going to be able to have so, I guess I should just suck it up. _Lily thought as her mom cheeked out of the store and all three of them got into the red mini-van again.

* * *

><p>Coraline came downstairs to a very strange sight, her mother cooking. Her mother never cooked, not even at Christmas or Thanksgiving.<p>

"Why are you cooking?" Coraline asked as she looked at the boiling pot of water on the stove. "Shouldn't dad make something special for the Walkers?"

"We want to meet our new neighbors, not give them food poisoning dear." Her mom answered. "You should have fun; they have a daughter about your age. Her name's Lily, I think."

"Lily, her name's Lily?" Coraline had heard about a new girl at school whose name was Lily. _If it is the same girl, who cares? She's probably like everybody else at that school._

"Yeah, that's her name. Do you know her or something?"

"I think so, she was-" Coraline couldn't finish what she was saying before her father came in.

"Mel, did you want me to go out and buy some little toffees to put in that bowl on the coffee table? Or did you say that I should use some from April and Miriam downstairs?" Her father asked.

"Why would I want to serve our new neighbors candy that was made in the 1953? Honestly, Charlie, I wonder if I should just have you write for me rather than try to help me with household things…" Mel gave him an ashamed look.

"Ok then, I'll use the new candy." Charlie left the room again.

Mel poured the box of noodles into the pot of boiling water. "Coraline, you should go get dressed now. They'll be here in about forty-five minutes or so."

"Okay." Coraline said going back up to her room.

She started to look for something to wear that her parents would find 'acceptable' at a dinner party, Coraline's dresser was full of clothes; jeans, t-shirts, gym pants, the occasional dress. She was looking for a plain black t-shirt and a pair of non-scuffed up jeans; she planned to wear them with her favorite vest.

Coraline finally found them and put them on, she looked at herself in her mirror and sighed. _It's bad enough I have to deal with those kids at school, I don't need one living right next to me. _

She looked at her hair that was growing out; it was beginning to show her true brown hair color. _Time to get the dye out again, _She thought. _I'll try to get mom to take me to get it cut sometime soon._

Coraline went to the bathroom to dye her hair before the new neighbors got to the house.


	3. Chapter 3

"But mama, I wanna bring Nelly!" Sue complained as Lily brushed her sister's golden blond curls. Sue was never cooperative when the family was going somewhere. This time it was about how her mother didn't want her to take her bunny doll with her.

"I told you dear, you might leave it there. I don't want to risk it." Lily's mother stroked Sue's hair. "Besides, Nelly will get to see our new home tomorrow when we move in."

"But I might get lost without Nelly with me! Daddy said it was a big palace, I might get lost!" Sue whined.

"Don't worry!" Her mother said soothingly. "Lily will be with you so you won't get lost."

"Mom, I don't wanna have to watch her the whole time!" Lily said in protest. Her mother always tried to get her to watch Sue when they went somewhere. She never once ever asked Zack or Vincent to do it

"Lily dear, just please do this, you'll just have to make sure she doesn't wander."

Lily sighed, it was useless to argue. "Ok…"

"Great now come on; we've got to leave in just a sec." Her mother called out as she went out to the car.

The drive was pretty short, only about twenty minutes. Lily was silent as she stared out the window. _I wonder what Coraline's like. I can already tell she doesn't like getting teased or messed with, maybe she'll be a bit friendlier than she was today…_

Then as she thought, her eyes met a very big house that was a pale fading pink. The car window almost collided with a sign that said '_The Pink Palace'_ on it. Lily started to feel a bit nervous about her new home, she was about to find out what Coraline Jones was really like.

* * *

><p>Coraline sat on the couch staring at the TV as some talk show about celebrities finished running. She didn't want these people to move in, but there was no stopping it. Coraline liked the Pink Palace the way it was, Mr. B and his mice upstairs, Ms. Spink and Ms. Forcible downstairs and Wybie down the road. This was her place, in the middle of the palace. And she didn't want to share it with some snobby new girl.<p>

"Coraline, they're here, could you answer the door when they come up please." Her father called out from his study.

"Fine, Dad." She got up and walked into the hallway. And then, that dreaded knock came.

_Okay, here we go._ Coraline thought to herself and she turned the knob.

"Hello!" a chorus of obviously over cheery voices came from the doorway.

"Hey, come in." Coraline said curtly.

"Oh, goodness! What a lovely house!" The mother of the buzzing family exclaimed. "I like it here already!"

"It certainly is nice!" The father purred in agreement. "And I guess you're the nice girl we're been told we're going to be neighbors with? I'm afraid I didn't catch your name…"

"Coraline."

"Caroline? Oh, my grandmother was named that, she would-"

"_Coraline_, not Caroline, _Coraline_." Coraline tried to explain her name in the friendliest voice she could get to come out. "It's okay; a lot of people get it confused." She forced herself to smile at them. _God, I've got the goober family moving in…_

"Well that's a very…unique name." Then the mother of the Walker bunch turned to her own children. "This is Zach and Vincent, there my boys." She said nodding at the two boys standing in beside her. One was in high school (judging by his height) and the other looked about eight or nine.

"Hello," Zach said only to be interrupted by his younger brother.

"Why's your hair blue? That's not natural…" _Oh I can tell I'm not gonna like you especially. _

"Vince! Don't be rude, I told you about this!" Zach pushed him a little in embarrassment.

"And," Their mother cut in again. "These are my daughters, Lily and Sue."

From behind their mother, two girls came into view. One was little, only about five or so with golden blond curls. The other was Coraline's age; she was wearing a very simple yellow sun dress with her dark hair pulled back.

"Hey…" Lily said softly while nervously meeting Coraline's eyes.

"Hi hi's! Is she the princess of the palace? She doesn't look like it." The little girl broke away from her sister and run up to Coraline. "I've never seen a princess with blue hair, Lily."

"Sue, I told you not to run around." Lily hissed at her sister in obvious annoyance as she pulled her back beside her.

"Well hey, everybody! Welcome!" Charlie walked in from the kitchen. "How's everybody?"

"Good, and hey, thanks a bunch for having us over tonight." Lily's father said as he forcibly shook Charlie's hand.

"Your home is just lovely! It really feels like a palace!" Lily's mother praised yet again.

_Good god, let's just get this over with. _Coraline thought miserably.

Everyone went into the living room next. All the adults sat around and chatted about thing after thing, the boys kept looking around the grounds from the window, and Coraline was seated next to Lily and the ever jumpy Sue.

"Have you lived here long? I didn't know you could just live in a palace." Sue asked with her little eyes glowing.

"Uh…I've lived her about a year…I guess you can live anywhere if you really want to." Coraline explained softly. Being an only child, she wasn't used to talking to little kids.

"Hey everyone," Mel walked in. "Dinner's all ready now. Shall we go to the dining room?"

"That would be very lovely Mrs. Jones." Lily's dad said sweetly.

Dinner itself was fine (most considering that Coraline's mom at made it). Coraline tried to keep conversation brief and really didn't try to make much conversation herself. These people were like those families in magazines.

_Well, the new neighbors are going to be wonderful…_ Coraline thought sarcastically.

* * *

><p>Lily didn't think that Coraline liked her that much from the way she acted towards her. <em>Well, maybe she's just shy…or she doesn't like me...<em>

"We had a wonderful evening," Her mother said as they all got their coats. "This is going to be a great place to live! It sure is bigger than our hotel rooms."

"Are you guys all crammed together?" Coraline's dad asked.

"Yeah, but we'll manage for one more night." Her dad insisted.

"Well, ya know we have plenty of room here." Charlie pointed up at the ceiling. "Someone could sleep here for tonight if ya want."

Both Lily and Coraline's heads popped up at once.

"Oh, we simply couldn't! We wouldn't want to burden you…" Lily's mother said.

"It's no trouble…someone can stay here, really." Charlie insisted again.

"Dad…" Coraline said with obvious anger being held in.

"Oh, well…if you really think that it would be okay…" Lily's mother turned to her children.

_No, this can't happen. This girl will probably get totally sick of me and beat me up or something if I stay here! _ Lily thought as she held her breath.

"Lily, how about you sleepover with Coraline. You two can use this time to get to know each other!"


	4. Chapter 4

Coraline was unhappy…to say the least. First this family of absolute goons had come over for three hours, and now one of them was spending the night!

She didn't say anything, but she was done with being so polite. She stared her father down like a hawk on a rabbit. But, what was done was done. Lily was staying here tonight.

"I'm sure you'll have fun, Lily! Goodnight!" Lily's family called to her as they left.

"Bye, thanks for coming!" Coraline's mom closed the door behind them. "Coraline, will you go see if you can find some sleeping clothes for Lily? I'm sure you have something. Come on Lily, you want some hot chocolate?"

_Why don't you just let her move in with us?_

Coraline walked up stairs; then she ran into her room and threw one of her stuffed animals at the window. This evening couldn't have gone worse.

"_Oh let's just open up the house to a bunch of goody-goody strangers…_" She hissed to herself as she went through her drawers. "I can't believe mom and dad just let her stay when we've only known them for like…a few hours!"

She found some clothes for Lily and changed into her own pajamas. She took in a deep breath and went back downstairs to find her mom and Lily sitting in the living room politely chit-chatting and sipping hot chocolate.

"Here she is, Coraline I made you some hot chocolate too. Charlie is getting you some blankets and pillows; let me go make sure he can find them…"

Then Coraline's mom left the girls alone, and to an awkward moment of silence. Coraline handed her the pajamas and told her where the bathroom was. She dissapeared for a few minutes and then returned wearing purple. She sat down beside Coraline on the sofa again, the silence continued.

"So…uh…this is, uh… a really nice house." Lily finally stammered as she looked around the room. "It's very old, isn't it?"

"Yeah…it's pretty old…" Coraline said slightly annoyed. _Of course it's old…just look at it, a blind man could tell this place is a rickety old shack. _"Here are some clothes for you,"

"Oh, thank you. You're all being very nice to me."

"Well, I guess that's what neighbors do." Coraline said curtly. She picked up her mug of hot chocolate and took a gulp of it. "So, was your old home this old?"

"Oh, no. We lived in a loft. It was a really crowded so it'll be nice to have some room here." Lily answered not meeting her eyes. "So, you're an only child?"

"Well, until you and you're bunch came along I _was _the only kid even here." Coraline didn't want to be nice to her. But…she couldn't find it in her to be mean either. Lily seemed upset; it was an underflow in her voice.

"It must have been nice having all this space just for you…sorry I'm like, all intruding. I didn't want to stay"

"Well, you could have said something back there!" Coraline hissed with a sudden snap of her temper. "No one put a gun to your head and said you absolutely _had_ to."

"Yeah, but…I still had to. Because my family wanted to get me out, so they'd have less burden I guess... They always do that." Lily's voice sounded sad and rather distressed. Her face was turning red with embarrassment and her eyes were started to sparkle with what looked very much like tears. "I guess I've just gotten so used to being shafted with stuff I don't even say anything anymore."

_Oh god, I didn't mean to make her cry. _Coraline did honestly feel bad, she hadn't really considered Lily's predicament in the situation.

"Hey, uh…we have some candy in the kitchen. Do you want some or something?" She asked softly, trying to be a bit friendlier.

"Sure,"

* * *

><p>Now the whole evening was completely not in Lily's favor.<p>

_Of course it would be me. _She thought sadly. She should have known something like this would happen; she should have braced herself both physically and emotionally for it.

_Why can't I be happy? It doesn't seem to matter where or how I live...my life is just too messed up. _Lily scanned the living room as her mind wandered. It was a pleasant room with a fireplace (though the painting that hung above it was not very pleasant) and had pictures of Coraline and her family all around the walls. There was a TV in the corner next to some bookshelves, on which was a dark figure that jumped down when Lily looked at it, making her jump.

The figure revealed itself to be a cat, a skinny, slinky, black cat. His green eyes seemed to glow even with the lights on, he padded over to her and jumped up on the coffee table, careful to avoid the hot chocolate mugs. He sat up straight and stared at her.

"Uh, hi there..." Lily said to the cat, who pricked its ears up as she spoke. "Are you the Jones's cat?"

She reached her hand out to the cat. It looked at her sternly and gave a low mew, making her pull her hand back again. The sternness then faded, and he seemed to almost grin at her. The cat tilted its head, she did the same.

"You're a strange one..." Lily said as she straightened her head. "Is anything around here normal?"

The cat appeared to shake its head.

"Do you understand me?" Lily asked, reaching her hand out once again.

The cat blinked and huffed softly. It then began to run himself against her hand, making Lily smile. He mewed at her again and then jumped onto the couch and settled himself on the arm closest to Lily.

She stroked the cat behind its ears and listen to the purr rise from the feline's chest. "At least you're friendly towards me..." She laughed at the cat's appreciation. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Is Coraline always like this?"

The cat's eyes widened, then shook its head. He sat up and mewed at her again.

"You're an interesting one..." Lily began to let her eyes wander round the room again as she continued to pet the cat.

She noticed something strange about the far wall...there was an, outline or something on it. She stood up and to get a better look, but was startled again by the cat which jumped suddenly from one side to other. The feline hissed deeply, baring teeth.

The cat looked at Lily in a way that looked as though he wanted to tell her something, but of course cats had no voice. She looked closer at the outline; it appeared to be a door, it was not just outlined but also crafted as though it had once been in use. There was also a key hole, deep and dark as though it had been opened...fairly recently.

Lily walked over to the door, looking over her shoulder at the cat, whom was still hissing. She kneeled down on the floor and ran her fingers over the square opening. As she looked more closely, she thought it looked as though there was a small opening under the door, a sliver thin as a piece of cloth. She placed her hand up against it; she though she felt cooler air coming out from the bottom of the door.

_Why is this here? _She wondered as she then tried to tug at the door, it seemed to be locked.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Coraline's voice made her jump worse than the cat had before.

"I'm sorry," Lily spattered as she got to her feet. "I was just looking at it...I've never seen a door like that in a house. Where does it go?"

"Nowhere," Coraline told her dismissively. She seemed almost a little frightened about the door. "Here, I found some chips in the pantry too. You like soda don't you? My parents are still looking for those blankets..."

"Uh, yeah." She sat back down on the couch. She noticed the cat jump off the arm and back onto the table. Coraline smiled at him and pulled out a little saucer. "What's your cat's name?"

"He doesn't have one...we just call him Cat." She explained while she popped the soda tab and poured some into the dish. Cat began to lap it up happily. "He isn't my cat, he just lives around here. He chooses to stay here sometimes though..."

"Why don't you give him a name?" Lily asked as she picked up her own soda can.

"Cats don't need names...they can tell each other apart without them." Coraline told her while seemingly sharing a laugh with Cat, who looked at her a shook his head and seemed to almost grin. "I know, it's really strange."

"I don't think so," Lily told, her beginning to giggle with them. She looked at Cat "I think its interesting. So, do dogs have names then?"

Cat blinked.

"He saying yes...becuase dogs are stupid I guess!" Coraline laughed.

Lily laughed too. They started to talk after that. Coraline told stories about how she and her neighbor, Wybie Lovat, had had fights over who got to keep Cat for the weekend, which she almost always one. Lily told her about her old neighbor's cat who used to climb down their chimney for fun and how her younger siblings came to believe that the cat was a sort of reincarnation of Santa Claus. The two laughed together, something which made Lily feel strangely relieved.

They tried to get Cat to eat some chips, but it just aggravated his hairball problems. He left them with a look of dismissive silliness. It made them laugh more.

Coraline's mother at last brought some pillows and a comforter and informed Coraline it was time for bed.

"Good night, Lily." Coraline told her as she gathered up the chips and candies.

"Night, Coraline. Goodnight Mrs. Jones!" Lily arranged the pillows to her liking and pulled the comforter over her.

Mrs. Jones smiled at her and turned the lights off.

_Maybe she isn't so bad..._


End file.
